By Richard Nira, Texas A&M University College of Architecture
Highlights
The 25 former students took on roles that included shading, effects and character tailoring
Texas A&M is regularly ranked as one of the top schools for animation students in the country
Since 1989, the visualization program at Texas A&M has provided a steady stream of aspirants for the burgeoning field of digital and electronic visualization
Twenty-five former Texas A&M visualization students, or Vizzers, were part of the Pixar Animation Studios team that returned a famous crime fighting superhero family to the big screen in “Incredibles 2,” smashing the opening-weekend box office record for animated films and delighting critics with mastery of technical wizardry and character development.
Contributing a wide range of talents to the movie, the Pixar Vizzers worked in shading, lighting, rendering, rigging and other specialized roles combining computer science know-how with artistic talent — skills initially honed as students at Texas A&M’s Visualization Laboratory.
Their efforts earned widespread critical acclaim.
The film’s animation, said NPR critic Glen Weldon, is richly textured, nuanced and realistic.
A survey of students, faculty and staff will be conducted as part of the four-year initiative to enhance mental health and well-being programming and resources.
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